I was born in Poonch (Kashmir) and now I live in Norway. I oppose war and violence and am a firm believer in the peaceful co-existence of all nations and peoples. In my academic work I have tried to espouse the cause of the weak and the oppressed in a world dominated by power politics, misleading propaganda and violations of basic human rights. I also believe that all conscious members of society have a moral duty to stand for and further the cause of peace and human rights throughout the world.

Wednesday, September 02, 2015

Differing views on revelation in Christianity and Islam

Nasir Khan, September 2, 2015

My Facebook friend Professor Mushtaq Khan Kayani has asked in a
comment if any ‘Muslim religious scholar can explain that Allah in the
Quran says “We sent Injeel to Issa” (Jesus). But Jesus, in his short
life never mentioned or acknowledged receiving the Injeel, neither the
Injeel has been mentioned in any Christian literature. Is the Quran`s
claim merely a bluff?’

Even though I have no pretensions to be a Muslim religious scholar, I
had come across such a question while writing my book Perceptions of
Islam in the Christendoms. A Historical Survey (Solum Publishers, Oslo,
2006). Therefore, I will offer my following comment, knowing to do so on
Facebook is more like stirring a hornets’ nest, which even the angles
may think prudent to avoid!

In the Islamic theological tradition, the Qur’an is regarded as the
word of God. That means it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad. However,
there are controversies on the issue whether the revelation contained
exact words from God for which all the Prophet did was to report what he
had been told to him or he was inspired by such a revelation where he
used his own language to express what was put in his heart. Most Muslim
believers accept the former position.

Now we move on to the question of revelation in Islam and
Christianity. According to the Islamic tradition all messages and
guidance from God were revealed through the prophets and all such
revelations formed the holy books. In that sense, what the Jewish
prophets received was the divine revelations and so was the case with
Jesus. The revelations he received were contained in the Injeel.
But in the Christian tradition, God is said to have inspired and spoken
to Jesus; however, any such communication from God did not form a revealed
book. In fact, the Christian Bible we have is mostly a record of the
events of the life and the mission of Jesus. If God revealed himself
then his revelation was Jesus, his Son, not some book.

In short, for Christians, Jesus is the revelation of God in a human
form while for Muslims the Qur’an is the revealed word of God in a book
form. To avoid any confusion, we need to pay attention to this essential
difference about the revelation in the theological traditions and
beliefs of Muslims and Christians. The Qur’an is the word of God for
Muslims but Jesus is the word of God for Christians.